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William the Just
William the Just, known later in his life as The Nemesis, was a minor character in ''Blood Omen'' (though his role would be significant for later games). A benevolent boy-king, William was 'corrupted' by the designs of Time Guardian Moebius, becoming a sadistic tyrant known as the Nemesis. Hoping to defeat the tyrant, Kain eventually found himself catapulted back in time by a time-streaming device to when William was still a 'just' boy-king. Seizing the oppurtunity, Kain murdered William with the Soul Reaver and with William also armed with a version of the blade; a Soul Reaver Paradox was created and William was killed; changing history, creating the Second Paradox timeline and igniting Moebius' Mercenary crusades against the vampires. William was voiced by Tony Jay. Biography Pre-Blood Omen era In the years before Kain's birth, William the Just had been a "kind and fair" boy-king, beloved by his people and ruling a territory in the North-East of Nosgoth. William would take Time Guardian Moebius as an advisor and Moebius would slowly begin to influence William; initially he offered William a shipment of weapons and warned him of a vampire assassin. When this information proved useful, William presumably sought more of Moebius' 'advice' and over the years, the "insidious designs" of Moebius would 'corrupt' William turning him into a "sadistic despot and tyrant, vying for global domination", known as the Nemesis. For years William and Moebius conspired, creating a " fanatically loyal and ruthless army" - the Legions of the Nemesis. Blood Omen era As Kain began his quest to eliminate the Pillar Guardians, the Legions of the Nemesis had begun their expansion, taking Stahlberg and butchering it's residents. On his quest, Kain would be told of the suffering caused by the Nemesis by the Oracle (really Moebius) and Ariel and both hinted that the Willendorf's Army of Hope was the only chance of stopping the Legions of the Nemesis. As Kain searched for Elzevir (hoping to kill him and restore the Princess to gain the favor of Ottmar, king of Willendorf) he passed through Stahlberg and saw for himself the utter devestation caused by the Legions of the Nemesis. When Kain returned Elzevir's Doll to Ottmar, Ottmar agreed to use his army to battle the Legions of the Nemesis in the Battle of the Last Stand. William himself may have been present at the battle (Ottmar certainly was) and when Ottmar was killed, "the tide turned" and the Legions of the Nemesis were victorious - Nosgoth was now at the mercy of the Nemesis. Kain was a ble to escape the battle when the Time Streaming Device (he had previously collected from Azimuth's corpse) activated sending him back in time to William's childhood in the Pre-Blood Omen era. Changing Times Understanding the era he now occupied, Kain realised his opportunity and travelled to the more peaceful "Land of the Nemsis" to attempt to kill William and change history; removing the destruction caused by the Legions of the Nemesis. As Kain moved through the Nemesis Keep, he overheard a conversation between Moebius and William, where Moebius had just begun to corrupt William. Moebius gave Kain a shipment of weapons and warned William of a vampire assassin sent to kill him. When Moebius left, Kain confronted William with the Soul Reaver and found William was curiously armed with a Soul Reaver of his own. (see William the Just (boss)). As the two clashed Kain was able to use the Soul Reaver Paradox to change history; killing William, ensuring the boy-king would never become the tyrant the Nemsis and creating the Second Paradox timeline. Finding a Time-Streaming Device on William's corpse, Kain was able to return to the Blood Omen era, expecting to find that the Legions of the Nemesis were gone; instead Kain discoverd his murder of William had ignited a genocidal hatred of Vampires which had ignited a renewed Vampire purge led by Moebius himself. With the execution of Vorador, Kain was left as the last Vampire in Nosgoth. Enraged at Moebius' manipulations (and finally realising that Moebius was the Oracle), Kain confronted Moebius and got him to admit to his own changing of history to corrupt the Nemesis, before he killed the timestreamer (see Moebius (boss)). William would now die a martyred saint and he would come to be be memorialised in the his own Chapel in the Sanctuary area of the Sarafan Stronghold. It would be in this chapel in the Pre-Blood Omen era that Raziel (and his Wraith Blade) restored William's broken Soul Reaver. Shortly afterward, Raziel would meet the elder Kain in William's Chapel, with Kain using his confrontation with William to explain the nature of history and paradoxes to Raziel; leading Raziel to change history again. Notes William as a name literally implies 'desire' and 'protection' (as in 'will' and 'helmet'), the name entered the English language after the real-life 'William the Conqueuer' who invaded England in 1066. William's title "the Just" which implies moral righteousness, as opposed to "The Nemesis", the spirit of devine retribution; which can also imply an 'archenemy'. The symbol of William the Just and his throne (in opposition to Willendorf's lion sigil) is the rose, as indicated by William's mural in Soul Reaver 2; this decision was apparently a due to Soul Reaver 2 artist Daniel Cabuco's attempting to explain why someone named "the just" would have red, spiky armor. As a "boy king", William became king early in his life, presumably after the deaths one or both of his unnamed parents (the previous King or Queen). Many such boy-kings throughout real-world history are often accompanied by 'advisors' that exert a sometimes corrupting influence; such may be the case with Moebius' corruption of William. The coming of the Legions of the Nemesis was prophesied by "an ancient seer" (it's unclear if it's'' that seer); the prophecy alone could be the reason William used the name "the Nemesis". The "Land of the Nemesis" is the only name given for William's territory in Blood Omen, though presumably it had a different name prior to William becoming the Nemesis, it is still referred to as the Land of the Nemesis in the Pre-Blood Omen era sections of Blood Omen. Though depicted as a tyrant corrupted by Moebius' influence in the First Paradox timeline, there was a timeline previous to that, in which, without the "insidious designs" of Moebius, William was "exactly as his title suggested". Kain himself indicates this when he kills Moebius saying "ironic. By going back in time, and altering the past, you turned William the Just into the Nemesis". Given that Kain travels back fifty years into the past, to when William is described as a boy-king; this means that the Nemesis is probably about sixty years old in the Blood Omen era, a respectable age for the Medieval period. As re-told at in Soul Reaver 2, When Kain confornts William in Blood Omen, William is armed with another Soul Reaver blade (which breaks when William is defeated) and Kain likewise ''has to be armed with the Reaver to be able to harm William. The presence of two Soul Reavers is not commented on in Blood Omen, though it is tempting to assume it was in the shipment of weapon Moebius gave William. William is depicted in a stained glass window and as a sarcophagus in the Sarafan Stronghold in Soul Reaver 2 and as the 'Colossus' at the entrance to the Land of the Nemesis in Blood Omen, in all of these depictions he holds the Souls Reaver (in the case of the sarcophagus, the actual blade itself). See also William the Just at Dark Chronicle (by Marie Walter). Gallery BO1-Nemesis Colussus.png|The Nemesis Colossus BO1-Kain-William-Moebius.png|Kain observes William's meeting with Moebius BO1-William's Map.png|William's Map of Nosgoth BO1-Kain-William Battle.png|Kain and William Battle BO1-William Death.png|William's Death References to be added Category:Characters Category:Stubs Category:Humans Category:Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain Category:Boss Category:Blood Omen Characters